Can you edit the App Library from a computer?

Asking to organize the App Library yourself, choosing which apps go in which folder, came up in 13 threads we found; the main Apple Support Communities thread has 37 “me too” votes. On Ask Different, the question of how to find out which apps are not on the home screen has 8 votes and 4,550 views, and a similar one has 5,195 views with no answer. A 2026 Reddit post asked whether any computer app can edit the App Library.

What the App Library lets you change

The App Library is the last page after your home screen pages. iOS puts every installed app there and groups them into categories such as Social, Productivity or Utilities, with Suggestions and Recently Added at the top. You cannot rename these groups, create your own, or move an app from one to another. That is true on the phone, and no computer tool changes it.

The things you can change are around it:

• Where new apps go: in Settings, under Home Screen & App Library, choose whether newly downloaded apps are added to the home screen or kept in the App Library only.
• Whether an app shows on the home screen: touch and hold an app on the home screen and choose Remove App, then Remove from Home Screen. It stays installed and stays in the App Library.
• Bringing an app back: in the App Library, touch and hold it and choose Add to Home Screen, or drag it onto a page.
• Whole pages: in jiggle mode, tap the page dots and untick a page to hide it. Its apps stay in the App Library.

Listing the apps that are not on your home screen

iOS has no list of “apps only in the App Library”. Swiping down in the App Library shows every installed app A to Z, but it does not mark which ones are also on a page. The answer people give on forums is to touch and hold each app in that list: if the menu offers Add to Home Screen, it is not on the home screen. With a few hundred apps that is slow.

TidyGrid reads the full home screen, including folders and folder pages, and compares it with the installed apps, so it can show the apps that are only in the App Library as a separate group. From there you can drag any of them onto a page or into a folder, or move apps from the home screen out to the App Library, and apply the result.

If you want the App Library to feel organized

Since the categories are fixed, people who want control usually do it on the home screen instead: a few pages, or a few named folders, holding the apps they care about, and everything else left to the App Library and search.

TidyGrid's Arrange can put every app and folder on your pages in order by color or A to Z in one click, and the Shelf lets you park apps while you decide which ones stay on the home screen.

Who this works for

• TidyGrid needs a Mac with Apple silicon and a cable between the device and the Mac.
• Reading the home screen and the list of App Library only apps is tested on iPadOS 15, iOS 16, iOS 17 and iOS 27.
• Applying a layout is tested on iPadOS 15.3.1 and iOS 27.2. iOS 16, iOS 17, iOS 18 and iOS 26 are still in testing, and on those TidyGrid opens the layout read-only and says why.

What it cannot do

• TidyGrid cannot change, rename or create App Library categories.
• TidyGrid cannot hide an app from the App Library or delete an app.
• TidyGrid cannot read hidden home screen pages. Unhide them on the phone before you connect.
• TidyGrid cannot change the setting for where new apps go. That stays in the iPhone's Settings.

Questions